Many sophisticated, intelligent people lack wisdom and common

Joyce Meyer, in her plain yet piercing way, declares: “Many sophisticated, intelligent people lack wisdom and common sense.” This is no small rebuke, but a truth as old as mankind. For the world often bows before intelligence, dazzled by clever words, subtle arguments, and lofty learning. Yet without wisdom and common sense, even the most brilliant mind stumbles like a blind man in daylight. Knowledge alone is not enough; it must be tempered by the humble clarity of truth and the simple guidance of everyday reason.

To be sophisticated is not to be wise. A man may master the philosophies of the Greeks, the sciences of the moderns, and the arts of rhetoric, yet fail to treat his neighbor with kindness, or to judge rightly between right and wrong. True wisdom does not dwell in libraries alone; it lives in the practice of justice, humility, and love. And common sense, that practical compass of daily life, keeps one grounded when lofty ideas threaten to lead astray. Thus Meyer reminds us that brilliance without grounding becomes folly dressed in fine robes.

History speaks loudly to this truth. The French Revolution was fueled by brilliant thinkers, philosophers who dreamed of liberty and reason. Yet many of them, lacking common sense and balance, plunged the nation into terror and bloodshed. The guillotine became the emblem of their “reason,” showing that intelligence without wisdom may be more dangerous than ignorance itself. Ideas that soar too high, unmoored from simple truths of humanity, often crash in ruin.

By contrast, consider Abraham Lincoln, a man of modest education, often mocked for his rustic ways. He was not adorned with the sophistication of Europe’s salons, yet he possessed wisdom born of humility and common sense sharpened by hardship. It was these gifts, not lofty philosophy, that guided him through the storm of civil war and preserved a nation. His greatness came not from being the most intelligent in theory, but from being wise in judgment and steady in action.

O children of tomorrow, heed this lesson: seek not only to be intelligent, but to be wise. Let your knowledge be married to humility, and your learning guided by common sense. For intellect alone may build towers of pride, but wisdom builds bridges of peace. Remember always: the brightest flame without direction burns itself out, but the steady lantern of wisdom and common sense lights the path safely through the night.